* This chapter is based on the video above - check it out!
"Morning guys!" I said, walking into the crowded kitchen as everyone was trying to make breakfast.
"Coffee?" Wanda asked, picking up a mug and pouring me some without waiting for an answer.
"Thanks," I yawned. As grateful as I was that Hank Pym and his daughter Hope were willing to let us all stay here indefinitely, if I had to spend one more night sleeping on the lumpy couch in the living room, there was no way coffee was going to cut it.
"Long night?" she asked. I nodded my response, letting the drink warm my body from the inside out, instantly making me 10 times more alert and ready for the day.
"Morning," Bucky said, making his way over to me and kissing my cheek, looking much more put together than I currently did.
"Sleep well?" I asked.
"Anything is better than being frozen for 70 years," he answered with a lazy grin.
"When does Natasha get in?" Steve asked, trying to hide his smile as he said her name. After helping us to escape from Stark's team at the airport, Nat had gone into hiding, not telling anyone where she was staying. But now that Stark had, somewhat, forgiven us (well, the majority of us. It was clear that he'd never be able to forgive Bucky for what he did all those years ago) she was able to come home and not worry about being caught. Not that escaping from the Raft wasn't a criminal offence, but Ross had been convinced to look the other way as long as we stayed out of trouble and didn't bring anything else to his attention. In other words, we had to lay low and not be involved in any drama.
"Tonight. Don't worry, she's looking forward to your date," I grinned. Nat and Steve were taking a leaf out of mine and Bucky's book and trying to make a go of it as a real couple. Tomorrow was their 'real couple' first date.
"Hey, have you contacted Jessica Jones yet?" Steve asked suddenly.
"Who's Jessica Jones?" Wanda asked.
"A PI," I answered. "And no, not yet." I looked away awkwardly, not wanting the Jessica Jones conversation to continue.
"Why not?" he asked as Wanda and Bucky's eyes focused on me.
"I'm... gonna use the bathroom," I said, making a swift exit and running up the stairs. I found the first bathroom and locked the door, sitting on the floor and leaning against the bathtub. After a few moments, there was a hesitant knock at the door. "Someone's in here," I said, as if that fact wasn't already obvious due to the door being locked.
"It's me," I heard Bucky say from the other side of the door. I opened it immediately.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Is everything OK?" he asked softly, coming in and shutting the door behind himself.
"Everything's fine," I plastered a smile on my face. He sighed and cocked his head to the side, staring at me. "What?"
"This is about Jessica Jones, isn't it?" he asked.
"I... Look, Ross said we have to stay out of trouble. Going to find a private investigator that none of us know, to track down a woman that I haven't seen or heard from in over 13 years is the definition of trouble."
"Flying around the world to look for a Super Soldier with a metal arm who was on the run was the definition of trouble. What makes this different?" he wondered.
"This is different because... I was just helping Steve. If we failed or succeeded, it would impact him the most. This... this is all about me. What if Jessica Jones can't find her? Or what if Layla Miller doesn't want to see me, like Pym said?" I questioned, remembering my first meeting with Scott Lang, when he'd passed the message on from Pym that Layla Miller wanted nothing to do with me.
"If she doesn't want to see you, she'll tell you herself. Look, it's your choice, but if there's someone in New York that can find your mom, I think you should go for it. The worst that can happen is that she can't find her, and I'll be there every step of the way," Bucky said. I hugged him, burying my head in his chest rather than saying what I really wanted to say – that the worst thing that could happen would be hearing that Layla Miller was dead, or that she wasn't even really my mother.
"I'll think about it," I promised. "But first, we have a highly anticipated first date to plan!"
***
"He's worried that she's standing him up," Falcon said. I peeked out from behind my menu to see Steve fidgeting.
"Tell him to sit still," I said, before speaking into my own ear piece. "OK, walk in. He's nervous so be gentle with him," I warned Nat.
Together, Falcon, Bucky and I watched as Steve stood up to greet his date, kissing her on the cheek.
"Pull out her chair, girls love that stuff," Falcon continued speaking to Steve through their separate ear piece.
"He's a gentleman from the 40s, forget all the feminist stuff and let him pull out your chair," I told Nat, knowing that she was the physical embodiment of an 'independent woman'.
"Compliment her, tell her how beautiful she looks," Bucky said.
"You look beautiful," Steve said with a smile as they sat down.
"Thank you. You look great too," she said, sipping the water that was already on the table.
"You haven't seen her in a while, ask her how she's been," Falcon said to Steve.
"How have you been?" Steve asked.
"Don't give him too many details, he doesn't need to know how many people you beat up last week," I said, exaggerating for emphasis.
"I've been great," she said, as they lapsed back into silence, waiting for the waiter to come and take their order.
"Is it just me or is this date awkward?" I whispered to the boys.
"First dates are supposed to be awkward. Wasn't your first date awkward?" he asked, gesturing to me and Bucky. Bucky grinned and blushed, looking down. "What?"
"Oh, I made our first date a lot less awkward than it could have been," I grinned.
"What did you do?" Falcon asked.
"I took my top off," I said without missing a beat, not mentioning the rest of the clothes that had also found their way onto the floor of the hotel room that we were staying in.
"Nice!" Falcon said, high-fiving Bucky who still had a red flush of embarrassment that came from being from the 40s, where the concept of sex definitely wasn't spoken about as openly as this!
We turned our attention back to the table, to see that the silence hadn't been lifted.
"Nat, this shouldn't be so hard. You guys have known each other for years! Just... reminisce!" I ordered her.
"Do you remember our first kiss?" she asked, immediately following my orders.
"Of course," he said, his face breaking out in a grin. "We were sitting on Rogue's bed, and you told me that it was a bad kiss."
"I didn't say it was bad!" she laughed. "I just asked if it was your first kiss since 1945."
"Which implies that it was bad," he said, also laughing.
"I was just pointing out that you need some practice!"
"And are you willing to help me out with that?" he asked.
"If I have to," she said, pretending to be annoyed. Then she leaned over and they kissed just as the waiter came over to take their order.
"Guys, I think our work here is done," I said, standing up.
"I'm gonna stay," Falcon said, taking out his menu and looking through it with a look of deep concentration on his face. "Someone needs to keep an eye on those two."
"Cool. Come on, Buck," I said, stretching my hand out and grasping his fingers.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To find Jessica Jones."
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Thanks for reading!
What do you think will happen when Rogue and Jessica meet? Read next Saturday's chapter to find out!
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